New Year's Eve

WHAT?...

It's 2011 already?!

Dean and Candice's family came over for New Year's Eve. We considered playing games, but mostly snacked, talked, played D.S.'s and hung out.

When it got close to midnight, I made everyone come upstairs and watch Dick Clark and the famous ball drop in New York.

HaPPy NeW yEAr!!!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning, when we started hearing rustling, I got up and put breakfast in the oven.

Our Christmas morning breakfast usually includes sweet rolls (orange or cinnamon) and orange juice. This year I decided to add to our tradition... "Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole". It not only has eggs and ham, but 3 different kinds of cheeses...including CREAM CHEESE! Yum.

We brought the breakfast upstairs to the family room where the kids had been sleeping.

We ate our mini cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole and orange juice as the kids anticipated what Santa had brought downstairs.

When breakfast had been cleaned up, the kids got into the traditional line-up-- youngest to oldest, and came downstairs.

As the kids filed into the room, they each went to their own stockings. Jason, Grandpa and I wondered when they would notice the family gift sitting on the coffee table. We waited and waited.

Finally Treyson said, "Hey, what's this hamster food for?" (by his stocking).

I said, "Hmmm, maybe it's for that" (pointing to the cage).

Santa had brought our family a cute little dwarf hamster! There was squeals of excitement and a rush to the hamster cage to check her out.

Grandpa Waite got a BSU Coach Chris Peterson bobble head.

Rylee was in LOVE with the hamster! She played with it ALL morning, including chasing it when it escaped from the exercise ball accidentally. She didn't need any other gift in the world. She was content with this cute little addition to our family.

The hamster was named Nibblet, after much discussion and consideration.

The "aftermath" of Christmas morning.

Look how cute we are with our new Christmas clothing. :)

In the evening, we headed to Grandma McKinley's house for dinner and gifts.

Sterling sporting his reindeer hat.

Grandma had outdone herself. We had baked ham, rolls, a variety of salads and lots of snacks and treats to enjoy.

Tyrel & Levi

I finally got to hold sweet little Sterling. I had been keeping my distance, up to this point because I wanted to make sure I was healthy and that he was stronger. He was such a sweet little bundle!

We all opened gifts from one another. Our giving "theme" this year was food storage and/or emergency preparedness. We received a box of cream soups and the book (and workbook), "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey, from Brinton and Amber. Thanks!

I've read the book, going on 3 times ,and have enlisted Jason to read also. This is good.

We enjoyed our books from Grandma and many started reading right away. :)

A wonderful day, filled with family, fun and giving.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, we had family over to celebrate with Grandpa Waite.

We had a yummy Taco Soup dinner (prepared by Candice...thanks!) and lots of yummy treats.

For the kids under 8 years old we had a........ gift pass?

We all sang Jingle Bells as they passed the gifts in a circle. When the song was done, they opened the gift on their lap.

The rest of us did the traditional white elephant gift exchange game.

Next, we gave Dad (Grandpa Waite) his gift from all of us. He wanted a "shake weight", so that's what we got him. He quoted the commercial, "Only 6 minutes each day, is equal to a 42 minute work out with traditional weights." We all tried the shake weight and played around with it. There's a learning curve to getting it shaking just right.

Levi liked the box it was wrapped in.

He hung out and played in the box for a long time and LOVED it!

You can't tell from these pictures, but he was perfectly content and really did LOVE it.

When it was starting to get late, everyone left to do their own Christmas Eve celebrations.

As a family, we read the Christmas nativity story in Luke, reflected on our services days and opened our homemade family gifts.

As predicted, Abree LOVED her blanket from Treyson. It was so fun to see her excitement and watch Treyson soak up the excitement and gratitude.

For days after Christmas he said things like, "Mom, I think Abree really likes the gift I gave to her." or "Do you think Abree likes her new blanket as much as her old one?" He was so proud. :)

Grandpa read us the book from Taylee.

She had illustrated it with lots of cute detailed pictures too.

Jason liked his Rubik's cube.

He planned on taking it to work to put on his desk.

Taylee liked her scarf.... except for the fact she was poked and found 3 hidden straight pins in the ruffles. Oops!

Treyson thought his walking stick was cool and began asking when we planned on going camping or hiking next.

Taylee kept teasing him that it had her initials on it and that she was going to love using it.

After opening gifts, we set out our stockings for Santa. The kids gathered their bedding and headed to the family room to sleep. It took them a little while to settle down, but they got quiet within an hour or so.

Happy Birthday Jaime!

Last year, Marianne and I took Jaime to breakfast for her birthday. This was significant because Jaime's birthday is on Christmas Eve and she had never spent time with friends on her actual birthDAY.

This year, she invited lots of friends to celebrate. We went to "Goldy's Breakfast Bistro" downtown Boise. It was a quaint little place, so we filled it up with about 15 women.

We talked, we ate, we laughed..... and had an ornament exchange. It was a fun, early-morning celebration. Jaime is hoping to make it an annual thing.

Happy Birthday Sweet Friend Jaime!

Homemade Gifts

We had so much fun 2 years ago making the gifts for our family gift exchange, we decided to do it again this year.

Treyson drew Abree's name. He told me he wanted to make a new blanket for her since her special baby blanket (made by Grandma Smullin) was getting raggedy and would have to be put in the "keepsakes" box soon. (Or "keep safes" as they would call it.)

I thought it was such a sweet idea, I totally hopped on board last minute and helped him whip up a quilt for her.

I showed him how to tie and within a few practice tries, he got it! I was so proud of him.

Rylee drew Jason name. She made him a customized Rubik's Cube he could take to work and put on his desk. It was all about the BSU Broncos an the Utah Jazz... of course.

I had Taylee's name. I made her a ruffle scarf. I bought 2 scarves from the Dollar Tree and cut of one of them to make the ruffles. Then sewed them on. It turned out cute. (Finished scarf not pictured.)

Taylee had Grandpa Waite's name. She made him a book, "Top 20 Things That Happened in Our Family in 2010". It was cute to see some of the things that made the list; Jackson lost his first tooth, Taylee started piano lessons, Sterling was born, we had the Ison Christmas FHE (funny to give to Gpa Waite), etc.

Grandpa Waite had Treyson's name. Grandpa made Treyson a "walking stick". It was cool. He smoothed it, carved his initials in it and even sacrificed a piece of his own shoelace for the handle.

Abree had Rylee's name. She and I made these flower clips for Rylee. So cute!

Jason had my name. He knows what I like.... acts of service! I received a gift certificate that entitled me to: A Garage Overhaul.

Including: Pressure washed floors, organizing and relocating items, a haul to D.I., arranging food storage items, re-organization of tools and a bike rack!

Are you jealous?

I know it may not be YOUR ideal gift, but it is MINE. :)

Homemade gifts take thought, time and effort, but it is SO worth it. I hope to continue doing this year after year.

12 Days of Service

Inspired by Sister Tanner's parenting class and the Christmas season, our family decided to do "12 Days of Service" in the month of December.

We had big plans, but with me going out of town for a week and many community services already FULL, we had to get creative and make the best of it.

We'd love to do this again next year. Maybe make it a tradition. We hope to be better prepared and get to serve dinner on Christmas Eve at the homeless shelter.

The day I was returning from Post Falls was our first official "service day". Since I was on an airplane coming home, Jason and the kids volunteered at the Boise Rescue Mission warehouse without me. Abree got to help by making place mats, to be used at the Boise Rescue Mission Christmas dinner.

Treyson also made some place mats along with helping to sort food.Jason and Taylee sorted food, restocked the shelves and moved/organized pallets.

Rylee was at Cantus, practicing for her upcoming concert.

Everyone who volunteered, got to sign a bed sheet. The kids told me there were several sheets hung all around the warehouse. They loved leaving their "mark" and being a part of the sheet signing. I wish I could have been there. It sounded like they had an awesome experience and came home happy and excited to tell me everything.

Over the next 11 days, we did some type of service, as a family, each night. We did things ranging from baking cookies for neighbors, to picking up trash in parking lots. One of our favorite activities was our family's first annual "Christmas Service Scavenger Hunt".

I called it a scavenger hunt to get the kids excited about it. :)

We first found out what the Boise Rescue Mission needed most in donated items. Then I sent out an event invitation on FaceBook asking for friends and family to help with those type of donations. Those who wanted to participate, were asked to leave the items on their doorsteps and we would come pick them up, Monday evening.

I wanted to thank those who so graciously participated, so came up with this cute popcorn snowman to leave on front door handle, when picking up.

On the back it said, "Thanks for letting us POP by! Merry Christmas!

Love, The Smullin Family."

The kids drew the snowmen faces and body onto halves of white paper.

Then Jason and I tied jute for a handle, wrapped and taped the snowman around the popcorn package and finally tied a fleece scarf around the neck.

Monday, for FHE, we drove around gathering the donated items for our "scavenger hunt".

Everyone had a task to do and popped out at each stop. Abree was in charge of getting the popcorn snowmen on to the front door handle. I drove and opened the back hatch of the van. Jason and the older kids ran to the door and loaded the items into the back of the van. Initially there was some disharmony, but we quickly got into the spirit of things and pretty soon were having lots of fun.

We collected a variety of things including; laundry detergent and cleaning products, baby wipes and diapers, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant and toothpaste. Plus some fresh fruit, veggies and frozen meat.

The Rescue Mission was THRILLED to have the ground beef and roasts. They said they receive turkeys here and there, but rarely beef. They also mentioned that with serving 3,000 meals a day, the meat would go to good use.

We hope to make this a yearly tradition. We had lots of fun and it felt good to be serving our friends, family and neighbors in the community.

Service is where it's at... the reason for the season.